The Rachel Files: Consequenceful Celebrations
by VisualIDentificationZeta
Summary: JackOther SUMMARY: Celebrations of one's own survival can go on too long and can lead to life-changing events.
1. Chapter 1

TITLE: Consequenceful Celebrations

AUTHOR: Vid Z.

PAIRING: Jack/Other

TIMELINE: Season 2: immediately post-Prisoners

DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc of the TV show Stargate: SG-1 are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this fic. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

SUMMARY: Celebrations of one's own survival can go on too long and can lead to life-changing events.

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Jack O'Neill woke up with a groan.

Trying to blink his eyes open he raised his head only to drop it back on his pillow with a moan.

There was a Jaffa in full armor and the damn metal boots marching around inside his head. Scrap that, make it several Jaffa.

"Oy!" he moaned quietly and grabbed his head as if that would stop the pain. He froze in his actions when he heard shuffling next to him and a soft, feminine moan of pain.

'Oh crap.' There was obviously someone in the bed with him.

What the hell had happened? He and the rest of the gang were in Las Vegas celebrating the fact that they'd survived their time on the prison planet. The last thing he remembered was the two light-weights of the group, Sam and Daniel, passing out after just a few drinks and Teal'c carrying each one off to their separate rooms, leaving Jack to continue drinking alone in the bar.

And now, for some reason, he was waking up with a woman beside him in the bed.

Partly he was proud of himself for still having it, for a woman to want to sleep with him, and partly he was mad at himself for being so foolish as to have a one night stand.

The last time he'd had one of those had been about 20 years ago (Kynthia didn't count, because in actuality she'd date-raped him, Doc Fraiser had found Rohypnol in his blood when she'd been trying to save him from dying of old age on Argos), years before he and Sara had gotten married.

He and Sara had dated for 4 years before getting married, courtesy of his long stays out of the country. True, he'd been in the black business then and had had to forsaken moral standards and his own conscience for the sake of the Air Force and the missions, but in his personal life he was a man of strong principles, honor and devotion. Which meant no cheating.

When he'd been undercover in a country, thus exposed to the public, there'd never been any shortage of women interested in him, but he'd never betrayed Sara. Nor had he ever betrayed any woman he'd been involved with before Sara.

He'd built a pretty strong relationship and marriage with her, a marriage and relationship that he was still confident would've still existed and would've existed until they'd die of old age, had Charlie not died.

Actually, the cause wasn't Charlie's death.

Had he himself been able to open up, to allow Sara in, to allow her to help him heal, thereby healing herself, healing together, he was sure they would've still been together. He'd still loved her and had still been in love with her, but had been too deep into his own grief and self-destructiveness to allow her in. He'd also blamed himself for her own pain. And then he'd gone on that first mission through the Stargate with the sole purpose and desire to die. Sara had known it, had understood that if he'd had his way he'd die on that mission.

It'd been too much on her, way too much any woman should ever have to go through and put up with, and he'd not been surprised nor angry nor betrayed when he'd returned home and found the house empty.

He still loved her even now, but with years of separation and certainty that they had no future together anymore, he'd moved on. They were still in contact and last he'd heard, she was getting married to a good man she was working with and had just found out she was pregnant. He could honestly say that he was happy for her and wished her all the best.

But the core of the matter here wasn't Sara, but it was finding out who the woman in his bed was and how to best get out of this predicament.

Carefully turning his head to his left he caught sight of a woman with brown hair long enough so that some were on his pillow. Her features were beautiful and delicate. Full, dark red lips. Supple, soft skin with a warm olive tone.

It occured to Jack that the woman had a mixed heritage, one of her ancestors (whether female or male) had to have been from the Middle East. From his time there he remembered many Arab and Persian women being stunningly beautiful. There was something about this woman that just screamed Middle East. Another ancestor had to have been from Latin America or South Italy, he couldn't pin-point. And this mixed heritage created a stunning result, for the woman was definitely very beautiful. Since she was turned towards him in her sleep and covered with the sheet he could not see her body, but from the silhouete he could tell that she was slim with long legs.

Suddenly her eyes snapped open and Jack was greeted by dark brown, darker than his own. Then she grimaced and suddenly she was a beautiful woman with her face pinched in pain.

He saw the moment the fog cleared and her head-ache was forgotten.

"Colonel O'Neill, sir!" she gasped, bolting upright in bed, clutching the bed sheet to her chest.

Jack's lips curved in a sarcastic grin. "That's the first time anybody called me 'Colonel' and 'sir' in bed." He sobered up when she glared at him, gathering the sheets closer to her breasts.

This action served only to draw Jack's eyes to them and they widened in a pleased surprise. She was definitely packing, cause there were two significant bulges tenting the sheet. Well, if he'd had to have a one night stand, at least she was beautiful. And young, but not too young. Around 30 he'd guess. Mature enough to realize that experience outweighs youthful strength and short recovery time, but still young enough to have a youthful body.

A flash of memory went through his mind of SG-1's visit at the nearby facility. "Don't you work at Nellis?"

A smug surprise showed momentarily on her attractive face. She was a woman after all and women like it if eligible bachelors, especially ones that are the object of desire for many other women, notice them. "Yes, I do. Captain Doctor Rachel Hamilton."

A scientist? Okay, make that drop dead gorgeous and extremely intelligent. Not bad for a warhorse, Jacko, old boy! Not bad at all!

"An egghead?" he still whined. He had a reputation to protect, after all.

"Takes an egghead to know an egghead, egghead sir!" she shot back.

He narrowed his eyes.

"Lieutenant Colonel Phil Thomas is the head of my department." she shared and he cleared his throat.

Phil Thomas and Jack went way back. Back to the Academy. They'd been room-mates, but not bosom buddies. They'd got on well, but had never been especially close. After Academy they'd both gone on to study Astronomy and got their Doctor titles at the same time. Their paths had diverged then with Jack having gone even deeper into the Special Ops.

So... Philly boy must've spilled the beans to his flunkies. Not to mention got assigned to Area 51. Wonder how to get back at him for this indiscretion...

"Just don't expect me to salute or shake your hand." she dead-panned. Such an action would let the sheet drop since she was using her other arm to keep upright.

Jack grinned in delight, she was a lot like him, sarcastic and with a sharp tongue. Not to mention the same field. He definitely liked her. Still, her sudden lack of any honorifics had not escaped him.

She lifted an eyebrow. "You really don't expect me to call you 'sir' with how we've woken up..."

Jack's eyes widened and he quickly lifted the sheet, glancing at their bodies beneath.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, slamming her hand down on the sheet between them to prevent him the view of her naked body. "What do you think you're doing?"

For a second he thought of making a quip about checking out the merchandise, but thought better of it. The situation was bizarre enough already. "Sorry. Just checking if we... you know... did anything..."

"We did." she ground out, still upset over what he'd just done.

"How do you know?"

She glared at him. "Because I'm sore, I'm sticky between my legs and with sitting upright I can now feel _something_ dripping out of me and down between my ass cheeks." Her meaning as to whom that _something_came from was clear when she glared at him even more fiercely. "And I think I've been sleeping in the wet spot."

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	2. Chapter 2

Guess the interest in Jack/Rachel stories is waning.

Should I even bother continue writing them? Or should I just give up?

I'm asking seriously cause I have several more in the works and can think of a more efficient use of time otherwise.

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Jack felt his eartips burn in embarrassement. "Oy!"

When he turned back to her and she was still glaring at him he finally understood. "Oh, sorry." With an apologetic glance he moved slightly to his right so she could move out of the wet spot.

Frustrated he ran his hand through his hair, mussing it up even more and winced when he felt a pain in his scalp. "For crying out loud!"

From the corner of his eye he caught Rachel's wide eyed stare. "What?" he asked slowly.

With dread in his stomach he slowly lowered his hand into his field of vision and gulped. Numbly he stared at the innocent thin gold band on his left ring finger, as if it was a ferocious beast trying to chew his arm off. Unseen to him, Rachel switched her attention to her own left ring finger and swallowed heavily.

At this time Jack had managed to tear his eyes away from the ring and glanced around the room. Nope, this wasn't his room. Last time he'd checked he didn't have a king-size bed in his hotel room, nor had there been clothes strewn on the floor in a very uneven and broken-up line, starting at the door. Or his suitcase standing next to an overnight bag/duffel near the door.

Nor had there been an innocent looking paper on the bed-side stand which, upon unfolding, turned out to be a marriage certificate with stating that John O'Neill and Rachel Hamilton, from now on O'Neill, were here-by married.

"Oy."

He murmured, breaking Rachel's trance.

"Oy?" she demanded, not caring that her voice broke slightly. "That's all you can say!?" Her voice rose into shrieking.

Jack shrugged, completely out of answers. This was NOT what he'd expected when he'd arrived to Vegas yesterday. Nor had it been what he'd expected when he'd woken up just minutes ago.

But Rachel wasn't done ranting. "This is terrible! I got drunk, married someone I don't even know personally and had sex with him! And I didn't marry just anyone. I had to marry someone who lives in a different state and has a dangerous job!"

"I'll... ah." he cleared his throat, interrupting her rant. "I'll sign the divorce papers, but you have to ask yourself something seriously."

When he was sure he had her full attention he continued. "You have to ask yourself if you really want to carry the stigma of 'divorced' around for the rest of your life. You won't be 'single', you'll be 'divorced' and trust me, speaking from my own experience, that's not something you want. Everyone who'll know about it will treat you differently, not to mention all the legal difficulties and problems that come with it. If we could, I would've suggested an annulment, but there's no chance for that. We obviously didn't use condoms." he gestured towards her vaguely, remembering her statement of feeling sticky and so forth. "Are you on the pill?"

"No." she replied subdued, looking down at the sheet and picking at the loose threads. "I'm not sexually active and haven't been in a long time. There's not exactly a picking of good men at Nellis, most of them being scientists, especially since there are the frat regs and most of them are pompous, arrogant, self-centered bastards like McKay. And we're out in the middle of nowhere so there's also no chance of meeting any civilians. And since I had to concentrate first on my studies and then on my career, I didn't have time for relationships. And I don't do one night stands, it's not for me. I still don't know why I did it with you. I never did something like this before, no matter how drunk I was. But, back on topic, even though I'm not on the pill and am in the middle of my cycle there's not much chance of me having gotten pregnant, not at my age. I'm no spring chicken anymore."

"But there's still a chance, right?" Jack wanted to know.

"There's always a chance." she conceded. "A very small chance, but still a chance. Though I wouldn't go out picking the nursery furniture just yet."

"And because of that I can't agree to an annulment. If you got pregnant that would be denying my own child and there's no way I could do that." he got quiet after that, remembering Charlie.

Unknown to him, with his adamant refusal to deny a child of his, Rachel's respect for him had grown in a big leap and she actually started to like the man she'd only heard of before.

First-rate soldier, they called him. Born leader. Brilliant tactician and strategist. Never leaves a man behind. Devoted to his men. There were also others who weren't quite as nice. A nutcase, they said. Irresponsible. Impulsive. Insubordinate.

However, it was all just about who he was as an officer, a professional. There was nothing anyone could say about him as a person, as a man, and she was learning about him from square one, with no pre-made sketch or idea of who he was. He was obviously an intelligent man, who felt very deeply and had some very strong morals and standards in his personal life. If she had to be married to someone he was starting to look like not the worst option. Besides, the way she'd been going she would've ended up alone and lonely, which was something she'd never wanted. Perhaps this was a good thing after all.

"You know there really isn't much of a chance, right?" she murmured.

"I know. But..." he sighed. "This is a sign. I'm taking this as a second chance and, if you're willing, I'd like to give it a shot."

She looked undecided, thinking it through furiously. Suddenly it was important to Jack to get her to say 'yes'.

"We could pretend that last night didn't happen. Well, except for the whole wedding thing... I'll call Hammond and get another 2 weeks of down-time and we just get to know each other. Just take it slow, get to know each other better and spend downtimes together in the future."

She looked at him and Jack could see the cogs turning.

Then after a couple of seconds, that to Jack seemed like hours, she nodded and said softly. "Okay."

Jack exhaled heavily, only now realizing how much it meant to him. He grinned. "Great! Do you want to take a shower first? Then we'll go have a breakfast and we'll talk."

She nodded in agreement, then squinted at him assessingly. One of them would end up fully exposed if she got up to shower. 'It's not as if he hasn't seen all I have already.' she tried to convince herself. She was normally a shy woman, not used to prancing about naked, especially not in front of men. But she didn't know how the sight of_him_ naked, if she'd take the sheet to cover herself, would affect her. This way she had some kind of control. Over herself and over what would happen. He also looked the kind of guy that kept his word and really meant it when he said they'd take it slow. She also knew that there was no way that he'd jump her and rape her if he saw her naked. He was well known for his protection of women and children, even at Dreamland. 'Besides, we're married...'

Having come to a decision she slipped to the edge of the bed and got out. She thought it kind of sweet that he tried to give her some privacy by looking away.

Jack carefully averted his eyes as his wife, it would definitely take some time before he'd get used to the fact that he was a married man again, got out and headed towards the bathroom.

Being a healthy, straight guy, and since she didn't seem shy, bending shamelessly to take clean clothes out of her duffel, showing herself in all her glory, he couldn't help himself and he threw a quick glance her way just before she entered the bathroom. The momentary look, before the door closed behind her, revealed that he'd hit the jackpot. The woman was, beside being a genius, also a true knockout and he'd bet all the men at the base, even the married ones, had their tongues on the ground when she went by.

'Getting drunk last night might turn out to be one of the smartest things I've done in my life, after all.' he grinned and got out of the bed to find some clothes for himself.

In the shower, the beautiful brunette smiled as she heard the sounds of her husband rummaging about, thinking that she won't be lonely no more. Perhaps, if she was lucky, for the rest of her life.

THE END

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AN: and remember, this was just fiction, in real life it would've gone much differently.

Avoid having sex with strangers, especially unprotected sex, momentary sexual gratification isn't worth the possible consequences. From STD's that either kill you or make your reproductive organs rot or fall off, or even make you incapable of having children later on and/or with someone else, to unplanned and unwanted pregnancies, dragon-like new in-laws, miserable, ruined life,...

While I'm not saying no sex before marriage is the only way to go, I'm saying that one should think with one's head and not one's reproductive organs. It's what makes us different from the less-evolved species. It's also what can insure us a long and healthy life (barring warmongering politicians and lobbyists and soldiers, of course).

Live smart and stay healthy.


	3. Chapter 3

Following qqball's suggestion I fleshened this part out.

Thank you all who reviewed, your encouragement is precious and vital to me. Especially because this is a Jack/OFC fic, something more or less new and risky for me to post/write.

This part wasn't actually a part of the original fic, but I thought this little epilogue was needed just to clear things up. This turn out what also what I had planned from the start.

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Jack shut the door behind himself wearily and trudged towards the kitchen for a cold beer, hitting the PLAY button of the answering machine along the way.

A pleasant feminine voice sounded through the speaker. Jack smiled in pleased surprise to hear from her. They'd only had a week together, because that was all Hammond had been willing to give Jack.

They'd taken full advantage of the allotted time still and spent most of the time together, talking about whatever came on their minds and thus getting to know each other. Because Rachel was his wife and thus needed to know such things, Jack had told her about his failed marriage, about Sara and Charlie, no matter how painful it was for him nor how hard it was for him to share his feelings. With the revelation that with such baggage he'd managed to start living again and had remained such a good person, Rachel's respect for him had grown even further. She in turn had told him of her previous relationships, short, unfulfilling and painful as they'd been.

Rachel was fully aware that she was now in a completely new territory. In her life she'd only had one relationship to which she had dedicated herself fully and because she'd spent most of her adult life focused first on her studies and later on her career she hadn't had much time, nor the strength to spend it on relationships. She was a shy and insecure woman and contrary to some other drop-dead gorgeous women she wasn't aware of her beauty, nor had it gone to her head, nor had she used her physical beauty to get what she wanted, much less had ever even thought of using it to have sex with as many men as possible. She knew that with her way of life, her shyness and insecurity, this was probably her only chance she'd get to have it all, because she'd soon reach the age at which every pregnancy is classified high-risk. Only a couple more years until she'd reach 35 and she knew, the way she'd been going, she'd have reached it without getting anywhere in her personal life. Career is good and well, but it doesn't warm your bed at night, or fill your heart with love or fill your home with laughter, love and happiness. Thus she'd resolved to do anything necessary to make it work. The fact that her husband was also a good and decent man just further sweetened the pot. The fact that he was good looking didn't hurt either.

Jack, on the other hand, was fully aware that with his 41 years of age time was running out on him for having it all again. This was his last chance for love and by god he'd take it, grab on to it and never let it go again and not just because there was no other possibility on the horizon for him. He wasn't ready to have kids again, true, not with the memory of Charlie still fresh in his mind, but he wanted to again be a part of a couple, committed to each other for life. He'd missed it these last two years after 15 years of marriage. From what he'd gotten to know of her, Rachel was a good woman, extremely intelligent, sharing his love for the stars, was compassionate and warm, indicating that she would make an amazing mother someday, but shy and insecure. She was also drop-dead gorgeous, easily among the top 3 most beautiful women Jack had ever seen, topmodels in Playboy, FHM, STUFF and other such magazines included. But even with her physical beauty, which was overshadowed by her inner beauty, she was not full of herself nor self-centered, but was incredibly humble and down to Earth, which was a rarety for women so beautiful, something that made her even more beautiful. Okay, so he wasn't in love with her, yet, but he didalready have a slight crush on her and was fully aware that he could easly fall in love with her for real. She was a good woman and definitely one Jack wouldn't mind spending the rest of his life with.

They hadn't made love again, though, it was something they'd agree to wait for a bit longer with. It had been with a heavy heart that they'd parted ways on the Nellis AFB runway when Jack had boarded his plane home. Not knowing how long it would be until they'd see each other again they'd permitted themselves one kiss. It had been a small one, lacking in passion, because contrary to what they'd done on their first night together it was the shy kiss of a newly-minted couple, but it was nonetheless sweet. They'd taken their agreement to start afresh and act as if their first night together hadn't happened, seriously and thus they felt and acted like a pair of virgins at the end of their first date. Which was ridiculous considering their ages, but somehow true. Even after Jack had boarded the C-17 Rachel had still stood on the edge of the runway, even after the plane had vanished on the horizon. Her mind been so full of tumbling thoughts and feelings that she hadn't even noticed an hour had passed in the meantime.

It had been a week since he'd returned to Colorado and, after having been sent off-world immediately, was home for real only now. He closed his eyes at the warmth that flooded his heart at the thought that he was no longer alone, that he again had someone to care about him, someone for him to care and worry about. After 15 years of marriage and constant presence of another person in his house the loneliness of a bachelor's existence had been the hardest to get used to. While he liked sex he was also mature enough to admit that the emotional closeness was more important and just holding a woman in his arms and having her hold him, was better than sex at any time. Giving his wife's recording his full attention he slowly sipped from the bottle.

"Colonel O'Ne... Ah, I mean, Jack." she stopped in embarrassement and muttered lowly. "Still can't get used to that. Or to people calling _me _that..." Jack smirked. Then she continued in a stronger voice. "Jack. You're probably_ away_, so I just wanted to drop a line. This is definitely uncomfortable for me to discuss, especially over a phone and I'm not sure if this is something to just leave as a message, but you need to know this, since it touches your life too. I... ah... I got my period today. What I mean is... I'm not pregnant."

Jack's arm froze in the air as he was about to take a shot of his Guiness, the only beer he drank, not that Bud piss.

He knew that this wasn't a good time to bring a child into the world, and they as a couple weren't ready for such a big leap. They weren't ready yet to have their lives changed as completely and permanently as only a child can. They'd only just gotten together and were still living in diffent cities, not to mention states! One of them would have to request a transfer and move and their careers were important to them both.

These were all very good and valid reasons, but why did his heart spasm in pain at another missed opportunity for fatherhood?

"It's better this way anyway."

Wait a minute! Had there been disappointment and sadness in her voice? Had she just tried to console herself?

"Anyway, just figured you'd want to know. Call me so I know you got back okay. Bye." her last word was barely audible, sadness clear this time.

Jack's heart melted. It'd been a while since he'd had anyone care about him, worried about his health and safety, not because she'd have to stitch him up or get used to a new CO, but because she cared about him and even because it was in the job description of someone who had a personal investment and interest in him. A significant other, a wife.

Abandoning the thought of a shower Jack picked up the phone, intending to give his woman a call and console her over the obviously disappointing turn of events and let her console him.

Because that's what spouses do.

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AN: just to reassure you: even though Rachel isn't pregnant, thus eliminating any obstacle of them getting an annulment, they'll stay together and try to make the marriage work.

Okay, I know Rachel's news wasn't the kind to tell over an answering machine (or at least I think so, cause I was never either in the position to receive it, much less to leave such a news - I'm a guy), but for this part it was.

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